July 20, 2008 - 1 PM: March on Zeb Mountain!Posted July 8, 2008, 11:19 am
STOP STRIP MINING TENNESSEE'S WATERSHEDS!
United Mountain Defense, Mountain Justice and Three
Rivers Earth First! ask you to march with us for
Appalachia. This is a call for you to take a Sunday
out of your life to help preserve some of the oldest
mountains and watersheds on Earth. March with us in
solidarity against the watershed annihilation machine
known as mountain top removal. This is a call not for
any organization or group - but for the Mountains of
Tennessee.
When: Sunday, July 20th at 1:00p.m.
The march will begin with a family friendly gathering and
prayer in the parking lot. participants will then march
1/8 of a mile to the gate of National Coal. A prayer will
be lead at the gate and at this time
citizen who feel called to participate in non-violent
civil acts of conscience will have the opportunity to
walk across the gate of National Coal. If you would
like to follow the examples of Martin Luther King,
Gandhi, and Thoreau by participating in this part of
the march then you must come to the non-violence
training the day before.
Non-Violence Training will take place on Saturday,
July 19th at 1:00p.m. at the University Of Tennessee
in the Earth Science Building Room 400.
Where: March at Zeb Mountain, Campbell Co. TN
Directions from Knoxville and points South
Take Interstate 75 North
Take Oneida/ Huntsville Exit/ Hwy 63
Go West of Interstate 75 about 6 miles
Turn Right on Hwy 297 @ Pioneer Post Office
Go 3 miles turn left onto Lick Fork Rd
Find a parking spot
Directions from Lexington and points North
Take Interstate 75 South
Take Oneida/ Huntsville Exit/ Hwy 63
Go West of Interstate 75 about 6 miles
Turn Right on Hwy 297 @ Pioneer Post Office
Go 3 miles turn left onto Lick Fork Rd
Find a parking spot
Directions from Asheville and points East
Take Interstate 40 West
Take Interstate/ bypass 640 West around Knoxville
Take Interstate 75 North
Take Oneida/ Huntsville Exit/ Hwy 63
Go West of Interstate 75 about 6 miles
Turn Right on Hwy 297 @ Pioneer Post Office
Go 3 miles turn left onto Lick Fork Rd
Find a parking spot
Directions from Nashville and points West
Take Interstate 40 East
Take Interstate/ bypass 640 East around Knoxville
Take Interstate 75 North
Take Oneida/ Huntsville Exit/ Hwy 63
Go West of Interstate 75 about 6 miles
Turn Right on Hwy 297 @ Pioneer Post Office
Go 3 miles turn left onto Lick Fork Rd
Find a parking spot
Send housing requests or questions to:
umdvolunteerhouse [at] yahoo.com
ZEB
MOUNTAIN - National Coal is the strip mine
corporation blowing up the three peaks of Zeb Mountain
for the coal beneath.
National Coal
has a terrible
record of over 50 violations on Zeb Mountain - including
one for illegally mining through two streams. National
Coal has wrecked
the watershed of Zeb Mountain - and the New River Watershed
is next if we don ’t
stop them.
SUNDQUIST WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA - National
Coal has bought over 75,000 acres in the nearby Sundquist
Wildlife Management Area and has the repeatedly stated intention on
increasing its rate of blowing up mountains in this Watershed.
Sundquist WMA is 84,000 acres of public access property offering
public
hunting
opportunities for deer, turkey, grouse, and small game.
The Sundquist is a Watershed for the New River. The New River flows
into the Cumberland River which is Nashville's drinking water
source. Some geologists have suggested that this is the oldest watershed
on Earth National Coal is intent on blowing up. National Coal is intent
on blowing up a watershed that is one of Tennessee's state capitals
sources of drinking water.
NATIONAL COAL STRIP MINE CORPORATION -
National Coal suggests that they are not like the "bad mining
practices of the past." National Coal says that they are
a kinder gentler strip miner - not like the bad old strippers
of the past - National
Coal would have you ignore the 150 year history of mining
in Tennessee.
National Coal suggests that they are not like all of the bad evil
strippers in Kentucky, WVA, and South West Virginia. They shake their
heads at how bad it is there. National coal would have you ignore
what their industry is doing in the other states.
National Coal suggests that they can do a great job "improving" the
New River Watershed by blowing it up. National Coal would
have you ignore the incredible damage they have done to Zeb
Mountain. They
would have you ignore your lying eyes.
March with us and stand up to these corporate bullies who with arrogant
almost colonialist swagger assume the right to blow up the
watersheds and mountains of Tennessee. Rocky top is our state
song - not
blown up mountain top. Tourism is our number one industry
- clear cutting and blowing up mountains does not attract tourist.
MUSIC, MARCHING, ART AND ACTS OF CIVIL CONSCIENCE -
March - and play music with us! Bring your banjo, fiddle,
accordion - art
skills - what ever you have. If you can play music and march
Tennessee's
mountains need you!
I realized that before a people could be fit for offering civil
disobedience, they should thoroughly understand its deeper
implications. That being
so, before restarting civil disobedience on a mass scale,
it would be necessary to create a band of well-tried,
pure-hearted volunteers
who thoroughly understood the strict conditions of Satyagraha.
They could explain these to the people, and by sleepless
vigilance keep
them on the right path. ~ Gandhi
The March shall begin with a prayer in the parking lot before the
March. We shall march to the entrance of National Coals occupation
of Zeb Mountain singing and playing our instruments to the very gates
of what National Coal is turning into a vision of hell.
From there after a last prayer those who feel the call to walk down
the road and inspect the damage done by National Coal are invited
to do so. If you think that you are called to do this you must go
through the non-violence training the day before on Saturday. We are
offer an opportunity for non violent civil acts of conscience for
those who understand the power of Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Henry
David Thoreau's powerful examples.
I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much
a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other
person has been more
eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than
Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and
personal witness, we are
the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. ~ (Martin Luther
King, Jr, Autobiography)
HOW YOU CAN HELP - We are
in a critical period where the banning of strip mining for coal in
Tennessee is in our grasp. The situation is complex with a
series of strange allies, non traditional friends and a coalition
of people who hunt, fish and love the mountains because god
made them. As such we have some suggestions to maximize the effectiveness
of
the march.
- Bring an instrument - and learn how to play - "Rocky Top"
- Tennessee's
state song. We are working on new lyrics.
- Dress up! Yep - we want you to come in your Sunday best. As
best you can clean up and dress as best you can. During
the civil rights movement people wore suits and ties all
the time - so
can we.
- When all else fails wear orange! We are the people of Tennessee
and the song Rocky Top is about us, and so is the color
orange. Just by wearing orange you can show that you are
from Tennessee - and
understand the importance of our mountains to our heritage.
- Respect. Show respect for the people who drive by, for the
people who live here, for the miners - for yourselves and
the people you organize with. There will be animal rights
activist and
hunters,
Christians and Atheist, Peace Activist and Military Veterans
at this march. Show respect for the mountains by showing
respect for the diversity
of people that come to defend them.
- Bring signs showing support for Tennessee's mountain
heritage, watersheds and the Sundquist WMA. We need art, banners,
musicians
and you. Especially you.
The organizations sponsoring this event are committed to nonviolence.
Please come, but come with the understanding that this march has a
specific focus with specific tactical goals. By participating in this
March you are agreeing to our non violence guidelines and to follow
the direction of the organizers of this march. We have formed strong
alliances with non-traditional allies and it is important that we
maintain that trust beyond this single march.
Download Flyer
FOR MORE INFORMATION - Email
unitedmountaindefense [AT] yahoo.com for more information.
You can also call for more information at (865)
689-2778 or goto our Website
at United Mountain
Defense. Drop us a line if you're planning
on coming -
it makes logistics easier.
For the Mountains!
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